Reuters Insider - Can slim Japanese treat Pocky penetrate U.S. waistlines?

Ezaki Glico

11/11/2014 09:24

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 Source:             Thomson Reuters                                   
                                                                       
 Description:        Japanese snack maker Ezaki Glico's chocolate      
                     pretzel snack Pocky is a popular staple at home,  
                     but now they hope it can charm the West to join   
                     the billion-dollar club alongside global chocolate 
                     giants.                                           
 
 
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Transcript (May be auto-generated)

 This iconic Japanese snack is taking on the world to challenge the likes of 
Hershey's and Oreo. Pocky, the stick-shaped chocolate-coated pretzels have been 
made by snack maker Ezaki Glico since 1967 and currently sell half a billion of 
these red boxes a year in around 30 countries. Japan's shrinking population and 
its stomachs are making it even more important for Glico to expand globally. 
That's why the company has set the ambitious goal of selling $1 billion of Pocky
by 2020. That's a big target if you look at Pocky's well-known global rivals. 
There are only 21 brands in the world that belong to this billion dollar club 
and Pocky is aiming to be the first Asian name. But Glico has to move quickly 
out of its home market to more than double its sales in seven years. The product
is expanding its brand recognition in Southeast Asia where its aggressive 
marketing strategy seems to be working. Pocky has had massive success in 
Indonesia where sales surged five times last year after enlisting popular local 
girl group JKT48 to showcase the sweets on TV. But Glico says Pocky's $1 billion
target is just a halfway point. And the real challenge is in the US market where
big retailers like Wal-Mart and Costco are a hard nut to crack. But the company 
also hopes that if they're successful there, there will be a lot more red on the
shelves and black in the ledger